Author: ["Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira","Peter K. Snyder","Tracy E. Twine","Santiago V. Cuadra","Marcos H. Costa","Evan H. DeLucia"]
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Abstract
This study combines previous work on quantifying the greenhouse gas value of ecosystems with models of the effects of biophysical processes to produce an integrated metric of climate-regulation services. The approach is used to quantify climate-regulation values of natural and managed ecosystems across the Western Hemisphere. Terrestrial ecosystems regulate climate through both biogeochemical (greenhouse-gas regulation) and biophysical (regulation of water and energy) mechanisms1,2. However, policies aimed at climate protection through land management, including REDD+ (where REDD is Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)3 and bioenergy sustainability standards4, account only for biogeochemical mechanisms. By ignoring biophysical processes, which sometimes offset biogeochemical effects5,6, policies risk promoting suboptimal solutions1,2,4,7,8,9,10. Here, we quantify how biogeochemical11 and biophysical processes combine to shape the climate regulation values of 18 natural and agricultural ecoregions across the Americas. Natural ecosystems generally had higher climate regulation values than agroecosystems, largely driven by differences in biogeochemical services. Biophysical contributions ranged from minimal to dominant. They were highly variable in space, and their relative importance varied with the spatio-temporal scale of analysis. Our findings reinforce the importance of protecting tropical forests7,10,12,13, show that northern forests have a relatively small net effect on climate5,10,13, and indicate that climatic effects of bioenergy production may be more positive when biophysical processes are considered14,15. Ensuring effective climate protection through land management requires consideration of combined biogeochemical and biophysical processes7,8. Our climate regulation value index serves as one potential approach to quantify the full climate services of terrestrial ecosystems.Cite this article
Anderson-Teixeira, K., Snyder, P., Twine, T. et al. Climate-regulation services of natural and agricultural ecoregions of the Americas. Nature Clim Change 2, 177–181 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1346 